Talk:Buffing the Damp Mire Layer/@comment-3041875-20161105223655
This was probably the strongest episode yet, and certainly the first in which I generally enjoyed all the stories and roles of all the characters. While some, like Rena's, were a bit drawn-out and rather uneventful, it felt like there was a purpose and consequence to every story, and there was a feeling that we're heading somewhere with each of them. Before things have seemed quite random and I haven't been sure on the relevance of stories in regard to the bigger picture, but everything this episode was either character focused enough or consequential enough that everything felt worth while. I'm still not certain on all the characters, but I have a better understanding of more of them than I did at the end of last episode. Josh - I'll start off with the bad, since Josh is easily the weakest of the butlers at the moment. He's a muddle as a character and actually the weakest within his own story, outshined by Joanna and Matthew. In the teaser we get a little more history to Josh, but not really anymore depth, as I'm not sure why he felt he had no choice but to have sex with Juan in the flashback, or what his relationship with Juan really meant to him, other than that maybe he was the first person to accept him for he is, which would suggest it was quite a meaningful relationship, but other dialogue makes it seem like it was just about fun. I also find it pretty hard to believe that Matthew would continue employing him after being punched, but apparently Joanna has more power than Matthew does over that, though I'm not really sure why. I also don't know why Matthew feels quite so invested in Josh as to want to save his soul so much, but him trying to get Josh to attend a conversion camp was still pretty entertaining, and I liked Pray the gay away. The fire alarm stunt was also quite funny, with Matthew exiting the house with an umbrella. His dialogue is consistently pretty good. Josh threatening to burn the house down etc. was a little much, and I don’t see why he'd use quitting as a threat, as that would surely not be a bad thing for Matthew, but Matthew then actually getting him to go with him to the camp is quite funny, and I'm actually looking forward to that story; Matthew is just so deluded that it's quite amusing. Ben - Ben and Justine were enjoyable enough in their first scene, and I really enjoyed their last. This remains easily the strongest of the butler's stories, but again the butler of the story is outshined by other characters, in this case with it being Ali and Joey. I continue to really like Ali and Joey's scenes, and find them the most interesting characters of the series. Joey wanting her to assert herself more and then have her try and tell Ben off was all really good, then I loved how that actually ended up getting Ben and Justine together, Justine seeing it as a turn-on; all around a good scene, as the drunk Rena and Liz referring to him as Bean was also pretty funny. Honestly, I was quite expecting the source of the noise in the basement to be human, and of course it became even more obvious at the beginning of that last scene, but the ending was still shocking because I wasn’t expecting there to be a whole bunch of prisoners down there. Also the indication that Ali was once one of them is very interesting, and it ended the episode on a very dark and creepy note which was great. Joe - Enjoyed the early scenes enough, with Tyson and getting into Josh's house, while pretending to comfort him, which was was fun enough, but does really make Joe look a bit dickish. I really liked his interaction with Matthew, it was quite funny hearing just how ridiculous Matthew's ideas were, that gays might like to read books about Satan, and I enjoyed the flashback too, with Joe's observations. Joanna was funny with her lack of concern in regard to the fire, with her husband inside, certain that the amount of alcohol inside would let her know if there really was one, and her reasoning behind Emilie as a name was also amusing, as was the quip against ouat. Overall though, the mystery should be darker and more engaging, with more revelations and hints. Rena - I liked the Rena and Liz scenes enough, it was good getting to hear more about Liz's past, and having Rena wanting to hear some tips. The ending to the story was hilarious, however, and made the rest of it worth while. Overall, good work, and I'm more invested now in the story and characters than I was before :)